


Fireteam Echo

by AmandineGhost



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-18 02:51:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12379365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmandineGhost/pseuds/AmandineGhost
Summary: Sometimes the best fireteams are already preoccupied and all the Vanguard can pull together for an important mission is a sparrow-racer and a missive messenger. Thankfully, the Light seems to account for these unplanned times.





	Fireteam Echo

“Guardian,” Commander Zavala looked up from the stack of reports on the table as the woman walked into the room. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Yeah, uh, I rushed here as soon as I got your message. Something about the Hive?” The purple-skinned awoken responded, her eyes wandered the room. “Did you want me to get a report the the Queen?”

“No, for now, we are putting your messengerial duties on hold.” The Warlock Vanguard chimed in. She shuffled through the report pile and pulled one out. “We’ve received word that there is a new Hive army spawning underneath the Skywatch. We believe this to be Omnigul’s doing.”

“Okay… What does that have to do with me? I’m a non-combatant.” The awoken shifted nervously.

Zavala spoke up, “Every guardian’s duty is the protect the city and all non-guardians. We need you to take up arms and track her down. We will be one step closer to ending the Hive threat at her defeat.”

“What?” The guardian deadpanned. “I fly ships, handle manifests and supplies. I don’t shoot. I’ve never even come face-to-face with our enemies.” She shook her head, “Don’t you have an elite team that you send in to do these things?”

“Yeah, we do. Unfortunately, they’re pretty much dead. Any others we would’ve sent are already dispatched. We need you to get out there because this might be the only chance we get.” The hunter vanguard rattled off. “But don’t worry, it won’t just be you. We’ve got a Warlock all set up to meet you out there.”

She blinked. “There’s still one problem, I don’t own any--”

“Gear? Oh you sad, sad hunter. You’re the first I’ve met that isn’t loot crazy.” Cayde-6 shook his head and then pointed at the hallway leading further into the Tower. “Take the first right down there and you’ll run into my personal vault. Anything you need will be in there. Just don’t take anything in the case, those are off limits. Oh, and happy hunting!”

In a flash of bright, white light, the hunter was transmatted onto Earth’s surface. She hadn’t walked around for more than a couple of seconds when a voice greeted her somewhere nearby.

“Hey! Hunter! Are you the one that’s - hold on,” the woman behind the voice dispatched a Fallen with a quick succession of bullets. “There we go, we should be clear. Anyways, are you the one that’s here to help with Omnigul?”

The Warlock in front of her was very clearly ahead of her in the loot game. She wore a spiked helmet, resembling that of a bird’s wings, with long, flowing robes. Her Warlock bond was a holographic blue symbol of the Vex. The hunter shifted her weight on her feet, clearly self-conscious of what she was wearing. There were going to be some differences because of their paths, but hers didn’t even have a hint of color. Monochromatic armor was the first thing she had seen in Cayde’s vault and she didn’t want to spend too much time on aesthetics. That was then, and now she really wished she had spent the time. Her hunter cloak wasn’t even anything to boast about. Solid white, torn in places, obviously worn out.

“Yeah, I am.” She waved at the Warlock. “That’s pretty good shooting, there.”

“Thanks,” the warlock swung her auto-rifle on her back and walked over to the other. “I’m usually out here doing patrols. Not the best one on the field, but at least I have some experience. Oh, Vex, by the way.” She offered a hand out to the hunter.

“Vex? No one’s reported that they’re on Earth?” The hunter swung her head wildly, looking for the enemies. Her actions resulted in a small laugh from the warlock.

“No, no, that’s my name!” She motioned her hand again.

The hunter shook it and offered her own. “Viro. Say, how’d you get that name?”

Vex shrugged, “I chose it. When my ghost woke me up on Venus, they were the first things I saw. Couldn’t remember my old name so I just took theirs.”

“Huh, well, I’m glad to be on a fireteam with someone who knows what they’re doing. I’m going to be completely honest with you, this is going to be my first time shooting a gun.”

“You’ll do great, Viro. It’s not rocket science.” Vex clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Now then, we should get going.” She pulled out her ghost and asked it to summon her sparrow. It transmatted directly to her side. Even her sparrow fit her outfit. Glowing silver, with beautiful ornaments around the sides of the engine that wound all the way around the vehicle. Viro recognized it as a very popular sparrow racer’s unit.

Without any extraneous comments, Viro mounted her own sparrow. They sped through an overgrown road, over a bridge, and finally ended up in an old parking garage. They slowed down, making their way down deeper into the structure until finally finding a public access stairwell. They made their way up what little stairs there were.

C-level. D-level. E-level.

As if on cue, Ikora’s voice came through on comms. “Omnigul is wicked and desperate. Keep your light safe.”

They looked between each other before Vex spoke up, “I guess that means we’re on the right floor. So we should--”

She was cut off by a piercing shot through her left shoulder.

“Vandal sniper!” Viro pulled the warlock to the side, out of the line of fire. Luckily it seemed like no Fallen were going to pursue. She poked her head around the rusted shelves, surveying the intense battle in the next room over. “Looks like Fallen and Hive. Do you know any weaknesses or anything?”

“Headshots are what we’re looking at.” Vex winced as her ghost healed her wound. “There’s not really any tricks to Fallen. Same shots for the Hive. They’re just really good at overpowering by numbers, so don’t get caught in a corner.”

“Alright...Then should we just let them kill each other?”

“Might I remind you both that you are on a strict time schedule.” They could practically hear Zavala’s pursed lips on the comms. “You will have to clear the enemies out if you are to proceed.”

“In that case, Fallen first?” Viro’s question was met by a quick nod and a hand motioning for her to sneak around and flank the enemy.

They focused on taking out the Fallen first. It was simple enough once the two had worked out a system. Viro would get up close and personal with a surprise backstab while Vex would use a few quick shots to the head to take them down completely. The Captain was the worst to fight. The Hive had figured out their new, more dangerous enemy and didn’t wait for the pair to dispatch the biggest Fallen. Viro had tried to sneak up on the Captain while dodging the Hive’s shots, but right as she was about to plunge the rusty blade into its back it swung its arm around and smacked her so hard she flew into the wall in a slump.

“ _Shit_ ,” Vex winced as she could hear a few of her partner’s bones break on impact. She quickly retreated into the room with the rusted shelves, hoping Viro would slide in undetected in a couple of seconds. 10 seconds. 20 seconds. 30 seconds. She peered through the small indoor window into the next room. Viro’s body wasn’t there.

“Hey.” Something tapped Vex’s shoulder, causing her to jump a little bit. Viro’s light-cloaked form started reforming. “So, do all deaths in the field hurt that much?”

“Huh,” the Warlock smirked, “That was your first time wasn’t it?”

“Yeah…” She drew the word out before sighing. “Well, I guess we should keep going. One last Fallen and, like, 20 Hive.”

Vex nodded and they started their onslaught yet again. After just gunning the Captain down, they moved on to the corrupted enemies on the other side of the room.

The two panted, leaning against the wall as their respective ghosts patched them up. They had just gone through what seemed like hours of uncoordinated fighting resulting in so many deaths each that they stopped keeping count. They swapped a few words about how they need better comms so they don’t have to keep yelling over the constant shooting to each other.

The only door deeper into the complex was lined with tripwire explosives before the end of the fight. When they looked up after catching their breath, the lasers flickered off and a Fallen battle cry echoed down the stairs.

“Push forward Guardians,” Ikora’s voice prompted them to frantically reload their weapons to take out the band of Vandals rushing towards them.

A stream of their auto rifles and the Vandals joined the various corpses littering the room. They exchanged what looks they could with their helmets on before rushing up the stairs for themselves.

They travelled deeper, ending up back outside and higher up than they were. “Watch out. There’s a powerful Captain near the cliff. Intel says it’s Phyksin, the King Baron.” Viro’s ghost warned them.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been saving my light for something special.” Vex’s smile could be heard on her voice. All of a sudden her gauntlets started sparking with volatile electricity. She started floating about a foot above ground as she channeled her light. Lightning chained between the large group of enemies, frying them all into dust.

“So much for the “powerful captain”.”

Viro laughed at her air quotes. “This is going way better than expected. Minus that first part, of course.”

“Keep moving, Guardians.” Eris Morn’s voice pitched them out of their small celebration. “Find Omnigul.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re on it. We’re getting there.”

They ran through the main building with no problems. It seems their enemies didn’t think anyone would make it that far to tracking down their leader. The ghosts were starting to narrow down the exact coordinates to the Hive Wizard.

“The Jovian Complex. Just across the path outside.”

The ghosts bounced directions between the two of them. “It’s the hive ship that’s halfway in the ground already.”

“It’s going to be the easiest way to get into the building, seeing as it has already torn a hole in it.”

As soon as the ghosts were done, the two surveyed the wide open space between their building and the next. Over a dozen Fallen were clearly being overpowered by the Hive pouring out of the ship they had to get into.

Vex’s arm shot out, stopping the Hunter from rushing forward. “Wait. The Thralls should end in a few seconds. No need for us to fight them, we can get past if we run around the right.”

“Better idea.” Viro shook a small, purple orb in her hand. “Be ready to run.” Before the other could ask what the orb was, Viro had thrown it at their feet. Smoke billowed up from it, encasing the two in the same wispy light that allowed the Hunter to sneak around at the start of their journey. At that signal, they both took off, veering for the hole in the building. Luckily, they were fast enough to end up on the inside before the light dripped off of their armor.

“That was really--” The Warlock’s comment was cut off as a Cursed Thrall screeched and exploded her partner. “Great. Countermeasures.” She gunned down the slowly approaching ones, defending Viro’s ghost from the other explosions.

“Thanks…” The Hunter rolled her shoulder as she stood up. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”

“Let’s get going, we’re really close if they’re throwing Cursed Thralls at us.” Vex lead the duo deeper into the building.

Every so often they had to stop to hack a door to continue. After a second hacked door, a shrill shriek brought the two to their knees. The shriek was loud enough to ring through the comms.

“Omnigul!” Eris recognized the sound immediately and offered a quick order. “Destroy her!”

Before they could even think to get near the Wizard, the fireteam had to deal with the handful of Knights, Thralls, Acolytes, and two towering Ogres. Every second they spent killing the Hive was a second that Omnigul was floating deeper into her army.

A few fiery deaths, one ogre stomp death, and one Hallowed Thrall explosive surprise death later and the two managed their way into the last remaining room for Omnigul to cower in.

They paused outside, as the Will of Crota collected herself and her army for the Guardian’s inevitable entrance. “Hey, I’ll see you at the end of this. This is going to be the most intense firefight we’ve been in, but I know we’re going to come out on top.”

“Aren’t you a fancy talker.” They reloaded their guns. “Save those words for after.”

Their trusty system of slash and shoot paired with the patience and bravery of the ghosts pulling them back from death worked like a charm against the Hive boss. The Wizard hadn’t expected the two to be so obviously brazen and unpredictable in the fight. She sent all she could after them, Knights, Thralls, Hallowed Thralls, Acolytes, Ogres, everything she had. An hour passed and the duo had successfully wiped out each of her followers through all the deaths.

At the end when it was just Omnigul, Viro, and Vex, the two had saved up their light for one final push. Viro pulled out a Void-infused bow and fired a matching arrow at the wall behind the Wizard. Void light erupted from the spot where the arrow landed, pulling Omnigul back and tethering her in place. As soon as Omnigul stopped floating around, Vex channeled her own light again, focusing her chain lightning on the only target. With the Void light sapping the enemy’s energy, the stream of electricity brought the Will of Crota to the same level as the rest of her army.

After an hour and a half of constant fighting, the battle was won.

“The agents of Crota have been defeated.” Eris confirmed for all on the comm feed. “The Hive will not take this transgression lightly. But you, Guardians, have given them something new to fear.”

The duo laid down against the grates, laughing in their success. One by one, the Vanguard following the strike left the feed. They could tell as the feed would click every time.

“Wow.” Viro broke the well earned silence first. “I’ve gotta admit, I did not see us winning that after we went past the half-hour mark.”

“Me either.” Vex took off her helmet and looked closer at her rifle. “Especially since that was about when my gun started to jam up on itself.”

“Do you mind if I take a look at it?” Viro took off her own helmet and outstretched a hand. “I run a lot of guns. Still don’t know how to shoot them too well, but I can definitely fix them.” She smiled at the Warlock.

As they met eyes and actually got to see each other’s faces, they fell quiet and exchanged equally confused looks.

Vex finally handed the Hunter her gun before asking the question that hung in the air. “Why do we look exactly the same?”

The two were both Awoken with purple skin and piercing neon blue eyes. They had midnight blue hair; the left half was shaven off while the rest was pulled into a low bun. If they didn’t know any better, they would both say they were looking in a mirror.

Viro shrugged, “I was revived on Earth, nowhere near the Reef so I haven’t figured out why I’m even Awoken.” She started disassembling and cleaning the gun.

“I have the same sort of problem. But nowhere near Earth or the Reef. Like I said earlier, I was revived on Venus, just in time to fight off a hoard of Vex. That’s how I stole the name.” Viro smirked at her last sentence.

“Clever.” The gun’s barrel was coated in Hive fluid found from the explosions of Hallowed and Cursed Thralls. Viro pulled out a spare rag and started clearing it out. “I picked my name, too, but it doesn’t have any special meaning other than the fact I think it was an old ship brand.”

“Hm. Maybe we were twins before the ghosts found us?”

“Maybe…Oh well, not like it does much for us now.”

“Anyways, it was fun.” Vex smiled at her partner. “First really important fight and we did it without dying. I call that a monumental success.”

“Yeah, I agree! I will admit, I didn’t think I would make it past that first fight. Seems the Vanguard really do know how to make fireteams. I still wonder why we didn’t get a Titan friend, though.”

“It’s fine. We didn’t even need a Titan. Speaking of fireteams. I’ve got a name for us.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Fireteam Echo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I hope you liked this fic that came out of the characters me and my friend made way back at the start of Destiny!  
> Real talk -- Omnigul's Strike sucked.
> 
> This is the first fic I've published in 7 years so hopefully it doesn't disappoint. Any feedback is welcomed!


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